Taking inventory of a large number of stored objects in a factory, warehouse or retail outlet is a formidable, time-consuming, and therefore expensive task. Current conventional methods of drawer, bin or cabinet storage require laborious hand-counting or prolonged weighing operations for each group of stored objects. Even with recent prior art improvements in computer-controlled one-at-a-time weighings of stored units, inventory-taking remains unsatisfactorily costly in time and equipment. In the case of very small objects, such as electronic and industrial components or jewelry, accurate weighing to provide a meaningful count is essential for an inventory to be of value. Unfortunately, errors escalate when conventional inventory weighing techniques are conducted and, thus, the industry has been forced to hand count parts.
Thus, there is a need for a new system for efficient, rapid and accurate inventory control by methods eliminating the process of independent weighings or hand-counts of diverse groups of stored objects. It would also be advantageous to provide such a system that is uncomplicated and could be compatible with a conveyor belt manufacturing process with a minimum cost of installation, operation and maintenance. The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing, one or more of the problems set forth above.